Last Breath
by SassySasha19
Summary: Taken after "I Shall Believe." Hayley's POV about Lucas's accident. Please review. Critcism welcomed, but be gentle. First time writer...


I own nothing. I just wanted to write a story about Hayley's reaction to Lucas's accident.  
  
You sit there and stare blankly at the textbook you know you're supposed to be reading. But you're distracted, you keep replaying the same scene in your head over and over agin. You and him fighting, yelling horrible things to each other and you leaving, slamming the door as you go.  
  
And you grit your teeth in frustration, not wanting to admit that he's right, that your boyfriend really was using you in the beginning to get at him. It hurts, and you're left feeling angry and miserable. Sure you've had your fights before (what friends don't?) But, never like this one, never this bad. You shake your head, trying to clear your thoughts and you're determined to actually get some work done. And your so busy trying to accomplish this, that you don't hear your mom knocking on the door. She comes in, and you're shocked by the look on her face, dazed and she's deathly pale with eyes filled with unshed tears. You get up and start going to her, a million thoughts racing through your head. And you never, in your wildest imagination, could have guessed what she is going to say. You approach her and she embraces you, her voice trembling as she says.  
  
"Hayley, sweetheart, there's been an accident . . . "  
  
Now, you're the shocked one. You've gone numb and can barely comprehend what she's saying.  
  
"Lucas."   
  
"Car accident."  
  
"Severely injured," are all that is running through your mind. And you think that this can't possibly be happening-the person she's talking about cannot be your best friend, the guy that you've known and loved for twelve years. It must be a dream and you will wake up soon.  
  
You feel a wetness on you cheeks, and it takes you a full ten seconds to realize that those are your tears streaming down. You numbly follow you mother down stairs as she tells you that she will drive you to the hospital, and you get stopped by your father along the way.  
  
You see more than feel him, take your hands in his and notice that he has tears in his eyes. You can't believe it, your father- the strongest man you know, whom you have never seen shed a single tear in all your sixteen years of life, is crying. This is when you know that things are really bad.  
  
Now, in the car, a million images race through your mind . . .   
  
You and him as children, swinging on the swings. Watching scary movies as he puts a comforting arm around you. Him blowing out the candles on his 12rh birthday cake. Doing homework together and him initiating a pillow fight. Good moments- teasing each other about new crushes. Throwing a rag at him when he's bothering you at work. Bad moments- the time you were barely speaking because of Nathan. All these memories swirling through your mind and finally, seeing the fight the two of you had. These images are consuming you. You feel dizzy and feel like you've forgotten how to breathe.  
  
As you enter the entrance to the formidable looking building, with the sign "Emergency Room," you realize that loss of breath and Lucas is connected. You need air to breathe or else you'll die, and you need to have Lucas in your life to survive. You can't imagine life without him.  
  
You're now sitting in the waiting room. You're so lost in your own thoughts that you barely see the other two girls who love him too. Peyton and Brooke, are sitting across from you, crying and holding on to each other. And the irrational side of you wonders if Brooke even knows the truth about her "so-called" best friend and Lucas.  
  
You see Whitey, Jake, and some other guys on the basketball team there also. Some are sitting, some standing, and some are pacing. Even Nathan is there. He has already come up to you and tried to give comfort, but you refuse him. You hold up your hand in a silent gesture of "stay away." You don't want him to be here, and you even almost blame him. After all the reason you and Lucas got into the stupid fight was because of him. Part of you knows this is unreasonable, but you don't care. You just want things to go back to the way they were before.  
  
Every so often, you pinch yourself to make sure that this is not just some horrible nightmare. And you try to tell yourself . . . It's not him-the guy lying twenty feet down the hall to the left is not your best friend, Lucas. And you try to convince yourself that everything is fine. Then you hear choked sobs coming from that room. Karen's sobs, and you're shocked back into reality. The reality that Lucas -the guy you love with everything you are, could be dying.  
  
You've now been waiting for five hours. Doctors have come and gone and most of the people have left. You vaguely hear someone telling you to go home and get some sleep, but you shake your head in response. You're terrified that if you close your eyes, for even a second, Lucas will be gone and out of your life forever. So you continue to sit there and wait.   
  
You know his chances aren't very good. You overheard the doctor saying that although the surgery had gone as well as could be expected, the next 72 hours are critical-he might not make it through the night. You than hear him give some empty platitudes and about how sorry he is. You want to scream and shout, or throw something, but you have no energy to do either. Instead, you just sit there on the cold, unforgiving plastic chair, with tears streaming silently down your cheeks. And all you can do is wait . . . and pray that Lucas will pull through this. That you'll be able to see his smiling face again and run your finger through is constantly messy hair, and be best friends again, the way it's always been.  
  
You're still sitting there, thinking about him. Wishing, you had handled things differently, wishing you had the courage to tell him certain things you never could. And while you are lost in your memories, you see the doctor come out of Lucas's room and hear him say grimly.  
  
"Mrs. Roe, I'm afraid I have some bad news . . . "  
  
And you know that you've just taken your last breath.  
  
The End 


End file.
